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Folk etymology claims that it comes from the Lakota for "he takes the fat", from wašiƞ (cooking fat) + cu, from icu ‎(“to take”). More likely, it comes from an old Lakota word for medicine bundle, referring to the bundles of goods brought by French traders, and originally did not carry the derogatory meaning of the modern word. Compare Dakota wašicuŋ ‎(“white man”).